AppMakers USA, a mobile and web application development company, has published its 2026 App Development Statistics report, a free industry reference compiling more than 45 sourced data points on app development costs, build timelines, user retention, AI adoption, and app-store enforcement. The report draws from primary sources including Sensor Tower, Apple, Google, and Stack Overflow.
Consumer spending across iOS and Google Play reached $167 billion in 2025, up 10.6% year over year, while downloads climbed to roughly 150 billion, a record. However, the report highlights a retention problem most teams underestimate: Day-1 retention averages around 24%, dropping to 5-6% by day 30, meaning roughly 94% of new users churn within a month. This underscores the importance of early engagement strategies for app developers.
The report also tracks a widening gap between AI adoption and AI trust among developers. According to Stack Overflow's 2025 survey, 84% of developers are using or planning to use AI tools, up from 76% a year earlier, yet only about a third trust the accuracy of the output. This suggests that while AI is becoming ubiquitous in development workflows, concerns about reliability persist.
App store enforcement remains stringent. Apple reviewed 7.7 million App Store submissions in 2024 and rejected more than 1.9 million, while Google blocked 2.36 million policy-violating apps from Google Play that year. These figures highlight the importance of compliance with app store guidelines to avoid rejection.
AppMakers USA has shipped more than 400 apps across iOS, Android, and web, including Number Hive, an education app used by more than 700,000 students, and ShiftPass, a shift marketplace live on both major app stores. The company is based in Los Angeles, with additional offices in Santa Monica, New York, and San Diego, offering mobile app development, custom software development, AI integration, and app rescue services.
